When You Come Back To Me Again
by Relatively Unknown
Summary: Ryou's musings after Bakura is sent to the Shadow Realm. Happy ending songfic.


A/N: Here we go again! I guess there is kinda some spoilers, but most of you know what  
happens to Bakura at the end of Battle City anyway, so it doesn't matter. 

Twy: But if you don't, he gets sent to the Shadow Realm by Yami. (Damn him.)

CA: My sentiments exactly.

Yami: Well, what would you have me do? He was wrecking havoc again.

Twy: Oh, that's a coward's excuse.

CA: I thought you liked him.

Twy: I do, but I like 'Kura, too.

CA: Ah.

Yami: I give up. I'm outta here.

CA: Well, once again, forgive the rambling, and this takes place after Bakura is already  
gone. Mainly Ryou's musings. The song is "When You Come Back To Me Again" by  
Garth Brooks. (Remember it from Frequency?)

****

SANITIZED: LYRICS HAVE BEEN REMOVED. THIS IS THE FFNET APPROVED, SANITARY, MADE-FOR-KIDDIES VERSION. TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL, GO TO MY SITE AND VENTURE UNDER "THE WORKS" AND THE APPROPRIATE SHOW.

* * *

_MISSING WORDS_

Ryou wandered aimlessly through the darkened rooms. The house seemed bigger  
somehow, more empty. He knew why. For years it had been filled with the presence of  
Bakura, and now that presence was just a faint memory. He knew why Yami had sent him  
to the Shadow Realm, Bakura did intend to take all the Items and overrun the world, but  
that didn't make him evil, did it? No, Bakura wasn't evil. Ryou knew that. He had seen  
Bakura show mercy and kindness, like no other probably had.

There was the time that Ryou was sick and couldn't clean up Bakura's messes. Normally  
he would've gotten beaten bloody, but Bakura waited until he was better. And it seemed  
that he had taken it a little bit easier on him when he did. Or there was the time Ryou was  
having trouble with a report for school and decided to give up on it and take a zero. The  
next morning he found a report, neatly typed and in its clear cover, waiting for him. He  
knew it was Bakura who did it, but how remains a mystery, since Bakura hated  
technology and despised computers the most.

_MISSING WORDS_

No, Bakura wasn't evil. Time and circumstance had made him the way he was. Was.  
Ryou almost broke down at that word. It was as if Bakura would never come back. The  
sad truth is, Ryou thought, he probably won't. Others might have found it strange that,  
even with all the beatings and the insults, Ryou missed Bakura. In truth, Bakura had been  
his salvation all those years ago.

Ryou had just lost his mother. They all had been on a dig in a remote part of Egypt when  
she was stung by a scorpion. They had rushed her as fast as they could to the nearest  
town, but she was too far gone. She died not minutes later. Ryou had been holding her  
hand when she looked at him and smiled. She then closed her eyes for the last time. His  
father sent him back to England to stay for the remainder of the summer. A week later  
after his arrival, he received the Millennium Ring, a gift his father said his mother had  
picked out for him for him birthday, but he figured that Ryou needed it now.

When Bakura first came around and demanded to have control of Ryou's body, he let  
him. Truthfully, if Bakura hadn't come Ryou would have taken his life, because his  
mother was the only person in the world that understood him and didn't try to change him  
like his father did. Ryou retreated to the sanctuary of the Ring as long as could, until  
Bakura would force him out. It was usually only at the end of the day, so Ryou would just  
climb in bed and sleep until morning when Bakura would come for control.

_MISSING WORDS_

Then, when Bakura figured out that he didn't need Ryou's body most of the time, he went  
out on his own and left Ryou to tag along behind, being his slave. Ryou didn't mind most  
of the time. It gave him something to do, some meaning in his life. Sure, he had friends,  
but he didn't let them get too close. He didn't want to hurt them should something  
happen, whether it be by his own doing or Bakura's. He seriously doubted the latter--  
Bakura needed him, as much as the spirit hated to admit. On the other hand, it didn't  
work vice versa. Without Ryou, Bakura would die, in a matter of speaking, but Ryou  
didn't need Bakura to stay alive. Physically, anyhow.

Mentally, Ryou did need Bakura. And now, without him, Ryou was just barely hanging  
on. The only reason he didn't end right then and there was for the tiny hope that Bakura  
would return. That, and if did end it, he didn't think that his soul would go to the Shadow  
Realm. No, he was too innocent for that, much to his chagrine. That was him; quiet,  
innocent Ryou. He hated that. He hated himself. He wished he could be more like  
Bakura; strong, dominant, and smart. Ryou went to Bakura's room and curled up on the  
bed. Sometimes his yami had liked to sleep in the real world instead of his Soul Room.  
His scent was still there. Bakura always smelled like cheap cologne. Ryou could almost  
hear him now, complaining that he should've bought some fancy brand instead...

_MISSING WORDS_

Laying here, on Bakura's bed, Ryou let his thoughts stray to a place he never dared think  
about unless he knew for sure that his other half was asleep or too drunk to care. It was  
here that he would never let the thought truly form, just in case. But this time, he didn't  
have to worry. No, not anymore. Ryou let it come this time.

It was the thought of Bakura, of what he must have been like before. Before he became a  
yami, or a spirit, or even a tomb robber. Back when he was probably just a boy no older  
than Ryou. What would he have been like? Probably nothing like me, Ryou thought  
darkly. I wonder what he did for fun, or who his friends were. Did he have a love? Who  
was it? Ryou knew that the thought of Bakura loving anyone was a stretch, but he  
wondered it anyway.

_MISSING WORDS_

Ryou let himself drift off into a light sleep. His dreams were filled with everything of  
Bakura-- his sound, his scent, the way he would look in certain light, the way he would  
make up jokes about the 'Pharaoh'... And it was here, in his dreams, Ryou let himself  
admit what he had always been to afraid to. He loved Bakura. With all his quiet, innocent  
heart, he loved the bad-tempered former tomb robber.

If Ryou had been awake, he would have noticed the room fill with a bright light, emitting  
from the Ring around his neck. The light grew brighter and brighter, until it vanished it a  
flash. There, standing beside the bed, was Bakura. Sitting down beside the sleeping Ryou,  
he gently ran his finger against his hikari's pale cheek.

_MISSING WORDS_

"Ryou," Bakura said softly. Chocolate eyes fluttered open, and looked towards him.

"Am I dreaming?" He whispered. Bakura shook his head. Ryou sat up and hugged him as  
hard as he could. He let himself cry. "I thought I would never see you again."

"Shh, Ryou, it's okay. I'm here." Ryou hugged him for a few seconds longer before  
hesitantly pulling away.

"How is that you are here? I thought you were gone forever."

"So did I. The Pharaoh did send me to the Shadow Realm. I thought I would spend  
eternity there, until I heard your thoughts. All of a sudden I could see and hear what you  
were thinking and dreaming. Then next thing I know, here I am. Of all your thoughts,  
only one could have brought me back," Bakura explained.

"What was that?" Ryou asked, trying to keep his fear from showing. If Bakura knew...

"The one where you said you loved me," Bakura replied. Ryou started shaking and  
cringing, as if he expected a beating. Bakura lifted his face up. "I'm not going to hurt you,  
Ryou. I couldn't."

What happened next blew Ryou's mind. Bakura kissed him, gently, on the mouth. He just  
sat there, too much in awe to respond, until Bakura started to pull away. Ryou recaptured  
the space between them, pulling Bakura in deeper. Yes, Ryou thought, Bakura could love.  
He could love him.

_MISSING WORDS_

* * *

CA: Ya know, all this sentimental-ness is giving a bad case of WAFF.

Twy: Why don't you write some dark fics?

CA: Hey, I didn't say that I hated the feeling!

Twy: You like it?

CA: Nah, not really, but I'm sick of being depressive.

Twy: You being depressed is scary.

Ryou: Ugh, la-la stuff...

Bakura: Can't you change the ending? Me being somewhat decent I can handle, but all  
this fluff?

CA: Oh, shaddup and deal with it. I can make it worse.

Ryou & Bakura: Eep! R/R everyone before she tortures us even more!

Twy: Nice work.

CA: I thought so.


End file.
